FRIEND
by Skittle-Scattle
Summary: Lloyd and Genis ran away from Zelos when he told the two the tale of the Theif and are now lost in the Gaoracchia forest and are helped by an unlikely hero.
1. Chapter 1

"D-Do you think t-that story was t-true?" the quivering voice of Lloyd Irving stuttered to his small Half-Elvin companion.

"N-No! Not at all! It was just to scare us!" Genis huffed bravely, ignoring his rattling legs. "Yeah…" the boy whispered to himself. "Just a story…" His powder-blue-grey eyes scanned the surrounding area.

Both Lloyd and Genis had gotten lost in the so called "Forest of Evil" AKA "Forest of No Return" when Zelos told them the story of the insane thief and his murderous soul and the souls of his victims.

Right now they were in a part of the forest they had never come across: an area clear of the wild trees that allowed pale sun light to seep through over the tops of the other trees, a small brook gurgled along beside the two.

Unfortunately for the two, they were quickly losing light, night time falling earlier in the dense forest.

"Come on," Lloyd also bravely huffed. "E-everyone's probably w-worried."

The metallic grey-haired mage nodded and followed close behind the human, one hand tiny hand attached to one of the swallow tails.

/An Hour Later/

"AHHH!"

A monster screeched.

"What the fuck was that?!"

A zombie hobbled over to them.

"Genis! Look out!!"

"Ahhh! Fireball!!"

The zombie fell to the ground, smoldering.

"Hurry Genis! Run faster! Use those stubby legs of yours!"

"Shut-up Lloyd!"

The two were dashing through the forest, hopping over menacing looking roots, nearly tripping on fallen branches, thoughtlessly changing their direction whenever they heard the cry of a monster.

It was completely dark now, the two entirely dependant on Lloyd's "Dwarven Scenes." Yeah, as you can imagine what **GREAT** wonders that did for them.

They saw a clear opening, the faintest hint of light shined dully.

"Yes!" they cried as they threw themselves into the opening, grunting loudly and painfully when they hit the cold hard ground.

The two giggled in relief as they picked themselves up, looking at each other for the discovery of sweet salvation.

Their victory was shortly lived.

/Gurgle/ /Gurgle/ /Gurgle/

Lloyd's breath hitched and Genis held his breath as they slowly looked to their side and saw a small brook happily gurgling along side them.

"AHHHHH!!!" the brunet yelled as he yanked at his spiked hair.

The mage merely wept at the loss of hope and curled up into a small ball.

Genis looked up and saw a fog beginning to shroud them.

"E-yah!' Genis squeaked as he hid himself inside Lloyd's shirt.

Lloyd, looking very much like those girls who stuffed basketballs in their shirts, fought to get the kendama-wielder out and whined, "Genis! Get outta my shirt! You hands are freezing!" Genis squirmed around as Lloyd attempted to pull the half-elf boy away. "Awww! Come on! I'm not into this kinda stuff!"

"WHAT?!" Genis popped his head out of the top opening of the shirt, looking horrified.

"Do you need help?" a wispy voice politely questioned the two quarrelers.

"Nah, we're good," Lloyd answered back as he continued to fuss with the lump in his shirt.

"Oh, well if you need help, just ask."

And the voice was gone.

"Oh!" the teen gasped, a light bulb appearing above his head, casting a light around the two. "Hey can you help us get out--?" He glanced around, unable to spot the owner of the voice. The light bulb flickered violently and burned out. "Ah...Damn," the Eternal Swordsman sighed softly.

"Lloyd!" Genis whined. "How are we going to get back to camp?"

"I...I..." the human had no answer that would satisfy his friend unless he just outright _lied_. "I...Hey, wait! Remember!! That one guy said 'just ask.'"

"So...?" the frost blue eyed boy waved his hand in the universal sign of 'continue on.'

"So, if we just ask, I'm sure he can get us out!" the brunet smiled widely, resembling a child's smile when they walk into a candy store.

"Lloyd!" the kendama-wielder exasperated, slapping a hand on his forehead. "Are you really serious about asking a stranger for help?!!"

"Hey!" the twin blade-wielder called out in the foggy night, cupping his hands around his mouth.

The fog began to reappear…


	2. Chapter 2

**LE BWAH HA HA HA!**Second chapter up! Teh wootness and sweetness!

Mr. Dollar-Store-T-Rex: Congratulations! ...Why are we celebrating a second chapter?

Because...! /Pause/ Uh... Point taken.

Mr. Dollar-Store-T-Rex: Well, in any case, we should--

BREAK OUT THE CHAMPAGNE! /Pop cork, shoots straight into eye/ MOTHER--

* * *

"Yes?" the voice whispered. In a matter of seconds, it had turned cold, the two seeing their breaths.

"Who said that?" the brunet suddenly turned distrusting as his earthly eyes tried to pin-point the voice.

"Me," the voice was right behind Lloyd.

Said teen pulled out his sword and slashed blindly. Genis covered mouth in horror as his human companion began shaking like a leaf.

"Ow," a ghostly outline of a human said. "Um...I think?"

"Y-You're a..." the half-elf boy stuttered.

"Y--" the figure started.

"**RUN!!!**" Lloyd screamed as he jumped up and pulled Genis along with him, running in some direction, away from the undead.

"WAIT!" the ghost shouted. "Turn left! LEFT!"

Like any other male, Lloyd turned the exact opposite direction.

"Ooh!" it made a fist and shook it towards the two. "Why won't anyone listen?"

The apparition floated off trough the trees, trying to find the two.

/Lloyd and Genis/

"S-Stop, Lloyd!" A tired Genis panted, his legs losing feeling. "I can't run any...anymore."

The teen tripped over a root.

"Ow."

He looked at his best friend. The half-elf was sitting on the ground, panting hard while fanning himself with a hand.

"Found you!" A proud voice called.

Again, they both got up and dashed randomly.

"Um...Right!?"

They turned left.

"Oh," The ghost blinked in realization. "So..."

It floated off, screaming directions as the two turned the two boys stumbled along. They had been running for what felt like hours (ten minutes).

Their legs died under their weight and both crumpled to the ground.

Fog shrouded them once again.

"L-Lloyd?"

"Yeah?"

"Be...fore we die," Genis gasped and swallowed hard. "I w-wanna tell you I always thought you were cool, and strong, and smart despite all the things I said about you."

"Genis," the Aurion looked into his friends eyes. "Y-You remember that book you lost a couple of years ago?"

The cloud got thicker.

"Y-Yeah."

"Well, you didn't really lose it. Noishe peed and puked on it, so I threw it away."

"**WHAT?! YOU FRICKEN IDIOT! THAT THING WAS WORTH HALF A MILLION GALD!**" An angry Silver locked boy tried and failed to claw out his human friend's eyes out.

"Finally!" the figure reappeared, arms spread out, eyes glowing an eerie frost blue.

The half-elf and the human waited for the swift and sweet swipe of death.

* * *

Okay, so maybe shaking up the bottle wasn't the greatest idea ever, but I got a neat eye patch out of it. Arrrgh! Skittle the Dyslexic Rainbow Ass Pirate!

Ed: /Neigh/ _Translation: Retard._

Screw you, Ed!!


	3. Chapter 3

Alright! Final chapter! **TOTAL FRIGGEN TEH WOOTNESS! **

Mr. Dollar-Store-T-Rex: Well, this is quite a surprise.

What is? The fact that this chapter is actually kinda long? Or...?

Mr. Dollar-Store-T-Rex: No. You see--

* * *

"Will you be my friend?" a (literally) glowing smile grew on the transparent creature's faint features.

"Huh?" the two dumbstruck idiots stared at the geist.

The paranormal thing's smile only grew larger, "I have a gift for you, if you'll be my friend." A golden light frightened away the darkness and fog.

The human and half-elf, finding the strength, sat up.

A glorious jewel floated upward from the ground, an almost divine humming seemed to radiate from it.

"Is...Is that the jewel from the tale...?" Lloyd wondered aloud.

"Yeah," Genis said, eyes glued to the mere beauty of it all.

"I'll give you this," the ghost continued on excitedly. "And anything else, but in exchange, you'll have to promise to be and stay my friends for an eternity."

"Hold up," Lloyd's eyes tore away from the splendid thing. "You'll give us anything we want as long as we promise to be friends with you?" The figure nodded. "But that's not a friendship then!"

Genis nodded in agreement, though he was unable to take his powder eyes away, "Lloyd's right! Any friend saying they need things from you is no friend at all, just a monster."

/Nearly two hours of discussing friendship and about the ghost/

The ghost had never really experienced friendship. Hell, the thing never even had a friend!

"I'm really called a murderer?" the geist twiddled his fingers.

"Yeah," Lloyd swung his leg from the fallen log he was sitting on. "When you kill people for no good reason, people usually will call you that."

"But they broke their promises! Liars deserve to be punished."

"There's one thing that bothers me though," Genis said, a confused look grew on his face. "How come you stole that jewel if you don't like material possessions?"

"I did not steal it!" the ghost threw his arms up in indignation. "It was a family heirloom. The Tethe'alla king wanted to get his greasy little greedy hands on it. I said no and ran away with it, hiding it in this forest when it wasn't as wild. But I was attacked and killed by monsters."

The creature sighed, "Then this wizard came along and cursed my soul saying, 'For not giving, you will never go on until you give and get something in return but people will abandon you and you will punish them severely.' So every time a person or persons finds me, I try to give that stupid thing away and gain their friendship but they always end up trying to get away with it, so I have to kill them... And no, their souls don't stay and kill everyone."

Ohhh...so he never _really_ was a murderer.

"Well, we'll be your friends..." Lloyd was about to continue on.

"Really!?" the apparition's eyes glowed fiercely with (what they believed to be) happiness.

"Yeah but you have to promise that you'll get us out of this forest and back with our other friends."

"Sur--!"

"Wait!" Genis held up a finger. "We also need you to do one more thing..."

/At Camp/

Raine walked up to Zelos, "Zelos, have you seen Genis or Lloyd?"

"Huh?" The Tethe'allan looked away from the mirror he had. "What was that, my beautiful lady?"

"Stop that," Raine was tempted to pull a Sheena (not a Grounded-Sheena) but decided against it. "Have you seen Genis or Lloyd around? It's starting to get dark and I haven't seen them."

"Nope."

The silver locked woman sighed and walked off, asking other members of the group for the whereabouts of the two boys.

Zelos looked back at the mirror, admiring himself, tilting his head side to side. He had others but he liked this one the best. It was an antique made with real ivory, jewel-incrusted, inlayed with platinum and gold, and had his name carved into the handle.

His mirror image began to melt.

The red-head had a confused expression on him, flipping the reflective glass around and back again.

He could see himself clearly again. The pink idiot smiled at the mirror and winked, thinking, _Man I'm fucking hot. Ooh, and sexy, can't forget sexy. Even Roxanne would stop putting on the red light._

The mirror began spewing out fog like dry ice. A transparent brown-ish tipped hand reached out to the Chosen.

"What in the he...?" The Indian-red-head drew the glass away from his face. As a forearm grew out, the young adult tossed the thing. Fog flooded the ground.

Another arm, then a mass of cobweb-grey hair, pulling out its' rag-covered torso (though it had a problem pulling up its' breasts) and finally, moonlight-fair legs covered in scratches.

"Holy..." The azure blue eyed man's feet were stitched to the ground below him.

The creature's, though its' face was covered, eyes glowed. In an ugly and raspy voice, the thing said, "My mother thought I was too beautiful to be her daughter and threw boiling zinc on me. You who had my mirror, you shall give me your prettiness." Boney finger tips covered in, now newly discovered, dried blood, reached for his face, intending to make good of her words.

"Ahhh!" Zelos dashed over to where the rest of the group was. He screamed again when he saw the faceless corpses of his friends.

He began to panic. He started hyperventilating, muttering to himself madly, rocking slightly back and forth, one hand tugging at a lock of poppy-orange hair while the other was clamped over his mouth, and tears threatening to spill over.

"I need your prettiness." The voice sounded so near.

The carnation-pink wearer dashed off into the forest, screaming wildly. The night time darkness of the vegetation instantly engulfed him.

He ran and had absolutely no idea where he was. He was bent over, trying to catch his breath and slow the flow of epinephrine, chanting in his mind,_ Not real, not real, not real, not real, not real, she wasn't real, the others aren't dead, I'm just having a nightmare right now. _

Zelos straightened up and panted a bit, still not fully recovered with all of the strenuous running he just did. His ears heard the sound of bubbling water.

/Gurgle/ /Gurgle/ /Gurgle/

A small brook happily flowed beside the red-head.

The red-head now knew where he was: lost.

* * *

Lloyd and Genis where laughing madly, high-fiving each other and grabbing their sides.

Raine, Sheena, Regal, Presea, and Colette woke up from their stupor. They shook their heads and looked around (except Regal who instead ran over to the black caldron bubbling over).

The two boys stifled their laughs and tried to look like nothing had happened.

"Lloyd? Genis?" The elder Sage walked over to the friend and brother. "Where's Zelos? I just talked to him a few seconds ago."

"Dunno." the dwarvin-raised teen shrugged his shoulders.

"I think he said he was going to pee." Genis cleaned his nails.

"Oh," Raine nodded and said, "Well, dinner might be a little..." she twisted her head around and saw the others freaking out as Regal tried to put out the now flaming pot. "...late."

She sighed as the others cried for her. The healer left to help.

The two friends snickered one last time before turning their heads back to the forest, waving and giving a thumbs-up.

The ghost's pale glow could be seen through one of the large bushes. A transparent hand waved back to them and watched the males leave to help as the fire started to engulf their backpacks filled with all of their supplies and gald.

The creature looked at his hand, noticing his light rapidly losing glow and him becoming even more see through.

_I finally going over..._ the geist smiled softly. _But before I leave..._Zelos spotted some peppermint growing near the bank, tore off some leaves and inhaled the scent deeply. Already he could feel himself starting to unwind.

* * *

A high pitched sighing sound was heard and then the crackling of bark being torn. Zelos spun around.

Inscribed on the trunk of a tree was a single sentence, _Just_ _keep going right._

* * *

Mr. Dollar-Store-T-Rex: ...and then she ran off with the intentions of--

Oh, shinznits and a boiling bucket of kiwis, Mr. Dollar-Store-T-Rex! They're back...

Mr. Dollar-Store-T-Rex: Huh? Oh! Skittle would like to thank everyone.

Yep! Cause without your reviews, this story would have not gone to the second chapter, or third. It probably would have been deleted.

Ed: /Neigh/ /Snort/ /Neigh/ /Sniff/? _Translation: Why are you acting like this is the greatest accomplishment in the world?_

Because you prick, this is the first story in a looooong time that was more then one chapter and I actually finished. Figures A And B was the only multi-chaptered story I really finished. /Sniffle/ I'm so proud of myself!

Mr. Dollar-Store-T-Rex: Make this poor demented author's day and give a review, please. n.n So,as I was saying, she...


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